Stanford is the current world champion, while Jenkins won the global crown in 2008 and 2011. Cave also won the world short-course triathlon title in Mexico in 2002 and followed this up with long distance success in France five years later before switching to the longer Ironman discipline in 2007.

The move paid off when she became the finest female endurance athlete on the planet in 2012. The Australian-raised Cave, whose mother hails from Rhyl, created history to become the first woman to achieve the notable double of winning the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii and half Ironman in Las Vegas.

After a troubled 12 months, Cave is now focusing on switching back to the shorter distance in Glasgow this summer to again compete in a Welsh vest.

This would signal Cave’s third Commonwealth Games after winning silver in Manchester in 2002 and finishing 13th in Melbourne four years later.

Cave had feared her Glasgow dream might have been over after a troubled 2013 where she was diagnosed with skin cancer and struggled with a torn hamstring.

Now speaking from her home in Tuscon, Arizona, Cave insisted she was back to full fitness with the Commonwealths her main goal for the first half of the year.

The 35-year-old has entered three races in South America over the next couple of months in her bid to qualify.

“Thinking of Glasgow gives me goose bumps,” said Cave.

“To be given the opportunity to go to the Commonwealth Games again after such a long time would be an amazing feeling.

“This was a place where I started my career as an athlete in Manchester in 2002.

“It would be like almost going full circle and prove a very humbling experience.”

Cave has enjoyed a nomadic life after being born in Louth in Lincolnshire. Her family emigrated to Australia in 1982 when she was just four with her older sister Melissa and younger brother Justin. Her parents, Joyce and Gordon, a carpenter, bought a four-wheel drive and toured the country for 10 years.

But she has always been proud to represent Wales and Cave admitted she would see herself as more of a support act to Jenkins and particularly Stanford in Glasgow rather than harbouring dreams of another Commonwealth medal.

“I would love to help the girls succeed,” added Cave.

“I think I have the ability to help the other athletes on the team with my strong swim and bike background.

“I am a competitor first and foremost and would give everything to do well and I don’t want to finish last.

“But at the same time, I would have to respect the girls and what they are achieving.

“What I would like to achieve in the race would be more of a support role for the other girls to succeed.

“Non’s superb form over the last 12 months will probably ensure she is the favourite going into the race.

“I have read about Helen coming back after 18 months of injury and feel as I am in a similar situation.

“I am now pain free and feeling good and know what I am capable of when I am 100 per cent.

“I don’t have the running speed the other girls have, so would be looking to lend myself to helping them out on the bike.

“The fact I do so many miles means I can bury myself on the bike and take things on which is what the girls will need.

“A lot of people won’t see me as a threat, so it will enable me to do something on the bike they would not expect to see.”

But Cave still has to qualify for the Welsh team and will compete in two races in Chile next month before a final event in Peru in early April.

“We had a conference with all the Welsh athletes trying to qualify,” she said.

“All the other guys will be racing as well to try to get that third place alongside Non and Helen, so we are all in the same boat.

“It’s a matter of who gets the right results on paper.

“The Welsh team have given us an option of where we race, although they have to be ITU events, and they will look at the results we achieve between now and the end of April.

“I have to race my heart out and hopefully I can produce the performances in the three races.

“These are my only real opportunities because of the timings and I have had to scramble for this chance.”

Cave will also have to cope with the vast differences between triathlon and Ironman. Cave’s winning world Ironman time in 2012 was nine hours, 15 minutes and 54 seconds in the gruelling 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

In comparison, the triathlon is almost a sprint at a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and a 10km run which takes just over two hours.

“I will just have to adjust my mentality,” said Cave.

“The races are very different and I always say the Ironman and triathlon are two conflicting sports, even though you are doing the same things.

“The triathlon is a two-hour event where you go flat out, as opposed to the Ironman which is nine and a half hours and has a lot of other factors to consider.

“I find the Olympic triathlon distance easier in terms of you are going to flat out, while the Ironman means you have to consider other things like nutrition.

“It is also a lot more individual where the triathlon is a lot more tactical where you are trying to get one girl on the podium.”

Cave is used in long distance triathlon you have to maintain a 10m gap between yourself and another in the cycling discipline, whereas in the Olympic distance you can ride in a group in the drafting system.

“I have always raced Olympic distances, so it’s not something I am afraid of,” said Cave.

“The one thing that will be a bit intimidating is the whole drafting element which I have not done for a while.

“I am sure it will be fine because I have done it before.

“I have not raced with a mass aggressive start in a while, so it will be an interesting experience going back to that.

Cave is just glad to be in a position to challenge for the Glasgow after a troubled 2013.

Last February, Cave was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma skin cancer during a visit home to Australia.

“I am fine now,” said Cave.

“I will be getting checked in early March and hope I don’t have another positive result.

“When you have one, it is likely you will have more, so it’s something I have to keep on top of.”

A hamstring injury also restricted Cave to two 12th place finishes in the Ironman World Championship in Kona and half Ironman in Las Vegas.

“I spent the whole of last year struggling with injury,” she said.

“I raced last year but not the level I would have wanted.

"I always felt as if I was chasing the ball and never on top of things.

“I spent the whole year just grimacing through.

“I took a long time to get over my injury after tearing my left hamstring and it’s something that nagged me all year.

“I thought I would be able to get on top of it for Kona but it didn’t happen.

“It was not simply the injuries because there were a lot of other logistical things I was trying to do as well.

“After you have such a successful year, there are so many demands on you as a person and athlete.

“I kind of didn’t have to do what I needed for myself and I would commit to things.”

But Cave believes her travails are now behind her.

“I spent the off season taking care of my body and doing all the little things I had done in the past,” said Cave, who is 36 next month.

“I feel good about this year because I am exactly where I need to be right now.

“I feel I have the right amount of time and resources.

“I wanted to go ahead and do the Commonwealth Games selection, but I didn’t think I was going to get on top of this injury so quickly.

“I have and I am back training any my body is 100 per cent.”

If Cave does compete in Glasgow, her attention will quickly turn back to trying to regain the Ironman titles she claimed in 2012.

“My goals for the first half of the year will be the Commonwealths and they will shift pretty quickly,” she added.

“After that, I will try to qualify for Kona which is pretty much just a few weeks after Glasgow.

“I will then enable myself to try to get some miles under my belt that I need to race at Kona.”

Cave will then reassess before deciding whether to tackle what would be her final challenge. She has never competed at an Olympics after missing out on the 2000 and 2004 Games and being away on Ironman duty for Beijing and London.

She admits this remains an unfulfilled dream and she still harbours ambitions of qualifying for Rio 2016 where she will be 38. A tough task you might say. But not beyond Wales’ own ‘Iron Lady.’

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.